Letter to Eli ben Ḥayim ha-Kohen

Abraham ben Ḥalfon sent this letter from Ascalon, where he had been sent to resolve a communal dispute, to Eli ben Ḥayim the parnas (administrator of charitable funds), who was living in Fustāt (Old Cairo). He reports on the growing problems in Ascalon. They seem to have centered on another Abraham, “the cantor,” who held the judicial position of muqaddam (an appointed official, the head of the local Jewish community). Abraham ben Ḥalfon had initially tried to calm matters but eventually sided against Abraham the cantor. Members of the Ascalon community, however, had turned decisively against Abraham the cantor and later came to support Abraham ben Ḥalfon for the position. This text, written in Judeo-Arabic, describes in vivid detail the various twists and turns in the community’s controversy.